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Lecture 2 - Problem Solving and Critical Thinking
Introduction Critical reasoning and problem solving skills are listed by the majority of managers as one of the most important metrics by which their employees are measured "AMA 2010 Critical Skills Survey." AMA 2010 Critical Skills Survey. American Management Association, 15 Apr. 2010. Web. 01 Nov. 2014., the education system focuses mainly on providing information with little thought to critical thinking and reasoning. This leads to the issue of students being able to recite back facts but not to construct an argument. Not only are problem solving and critical thinking skills generally useful in everyday life, but they are fundamental principals of the scientific process. Critical Thinking A definition of critical thinking is "A systematic way to form and shape one's thinking. It is thought that is disciplined, comprehensive, based on intellectual standards, and as a result, reasoned." Thinking of this type is often focused on observation, interpretation and evaluation of situations and/or problems, but it is generally considered a set of skills used to improve ones own process of thinking. Critical thinking involves giving consideration to available evidence, the context of the problem, proper understanding of the problem and of the outcomes of the possible solutions Reynolds, Martin (2011). Critical thinking and systems thinking: towards a critical literacy for systems thinking in practice. In: Horvath , Christopher P. and Forte, James M. eds. Critical Thinking. New York, USA: Nova Science Publishers, pp. 37–68.. Problem Solving Problem solving often uses these critical thinking skills in order to identify and analyse the problem, evidence and possible solutions, especially when difficult problems are encountered. The following techniques are generally referred to as problem-solving techniques Wang, Y., & Chiew, V. (2010). On the cognitive process of human problem solving. Cognitive Systems Research, 11(1), 81-92. : Direct facts – finding a direct solution path based on known solutions. : Heuristic – adopting rule of thumb or the most possible solutions. : Analogy – reducing a new problem to an existing or similar one for which solutions have already been known. : Hill climbing – making any move that approaches closer to the problem goal step by step. : Algorithmic deduction – applying a known and well defined solution for a problem. : Exhaustive search – using a systematic search for all possible solutions. : Divide-and-conquer – solving a whole problem via decomposing it into a set of sub-problems. : Analysis and synthesis – reducing a given problem to a known category and then finding particular solutions. One prominent example of these kind of techniques being used is the use of Heuristics in computer Anti-Malware programs. New Malware is able to be created and propagate much faster than they can be identified and characterised by Anti-Malware companies. To get around this, most Anti-Malware programs now use heuristics to identify and deal with emerging threaths. To do this, they use sets of rules to monitor a suspicious file for features of Malware-like behaviour. This allows the identification of new Malware and variants of existing Malware, without relying solely on lists of existing Malware. However this method of detection is incapable of detecting Malware with novel methods of action and sometimes results in false positives. Problem Solving Games Many studies have identified Video games as a very good means for developing problem-solving skills as problem-solving is an important part of nearly all genres of video games Granic, I., Lobel, A. and Engels, R. (2013). The benefits of playing video games. American Psychological Association.. This has lead to a generation of youths who problem-solve, not through the traditional educational problem-solving method of following explicit linear instructions, but by trial-and-error. Here are some examples of games which require the cue of these skills to progress: Interlocked Divide Fantastic Contraption References and recommended reading Section heading Previous lecture: The Scientific Method Next lecture: The David O'Connell Lecture Home Page